As an avid cyclist and a member of my local YMCA, I see a lot that impresses me: cyclists that blaze down the bike path in the stifling heat and humidity, runners with unstoppable endurance and weight lifters that can bench press twice my weight with ease. When I see these athletes in action, I feel motivated to step up my “game” by pushing myself a little harder and farther. No, I’m not in a competition with them, but I’m competitive with myself.

As much as these athletes impress me, there are others in these same places that amaze me even more. These are people with physical challenges who, despite their challenges, show up every day with a workman-like attitude. When I see them, it’s not their athletic ability that impresses me…it’s their courage.

At the Y, I see an Asian woman in her 60’s who has suffered a stroke. She uses a cane to walk (slowly and deliberately) and then she carefully gets onto the rowing machine for an hour’s worth of rowing. There’s nothing impressive about her rowing…it’s not particularly fast. What impresses me the most is her courage to show up and get onto the rowing machine despite the difficulty and struggle to to so.

On the bike path, I pass a woman – in her 70s (I presume) walking at a slow pace. She’s thin and somewhat frail-looking and her gait is not a natural one. Sometimes she has others walking alongside her. But what impresses me is her consistency to show up. Every Sunday when I’m out there on the trail, she’s out there too. Again, there’s nothing impressive about the way she walks. However, the fact that she’s out there every Sunday blows me away. When I see her, I smile and feel blessed by her presence.

In our day-to-day lives, there are a likely a lot of people who catch our attention – people with natural gifts, talents and plenty of charisma. But I’m learning that the real heroes are the people who aren’t perfect in their activities, work and appearance…they are ones taking imperfect, courageous and consistent action.
What action or activity, however imperfect, are you putting off?

Every other day, it seems, we hear of athletes, celebrities and professionals at all levels getting into trouble for something shared on Twitter (and other social media channels). I recently stumbled upon the FireMe site, which provides a real-time list of Tweets that can potentially get you into trouble. As I explore that site, I’m surprised at just how many people are willing to risk potential damage to their reputation or spend their time being negative on social media.

On the flip side, there is plenty of opportunity to utilize social media in a very positive way. Last month, I was blown away and moved by a series of Tweets shared by Scott Simon, an NPR journalist and host of “Weekend Edition Saturday”. Simon was spending time at his mother’s bedside in a Chicago hospital as she was dying from cancer and sharing his thoughts…

Reading Simon’s thoughts got me emotional as I flashed back to time spent at my mother’s bedside when she was in the ICU in a coma just two years ago. Unlike Simon, I did not get a chance to say goodbye or share any last moments of communication with her. I felt a brief moment of jealousy that Simon was able to experience this closure with her. However, reading about these precious moments in 140 character snippets gave me a sense of comfort and helped me imagine what my last words and moments of communication would have been like with my mother. While it was sad for me to read what Simon was going through, I felt emotionally connected to Simon and even uplifted to read about the last days and moments with his mother.

Some may argue whether it was right or proper for Simon to share these last private moments with his mother on Twitter. My answer is a resounding “yes.” There have been times when writing has been therapeutic for me throughout my own grief process. I realize that live Tweeting these last moments with his mother must have had a similar effect for Simon. I also believe the lessons and reminders can be valuable for all of us.

I am grateful Scott Simon shared his last moments with his mother on Twitter…it reminds me that while Twitter gets a lot of attention for to the many wrong (and negative) ways people use social media, it can also be used to share amazing, honest and emotionally powerful thoughts in one’s life.

For a more detailed article on Scott Simon’s Tweets at his mother’s bedside (including a slideshow of all the Tweets), please visit The Huffington Post.

How about you…what is the most memorable, positive and inspiring content you’ve read on Twitter?

This post was originally published on June 23, 2009 on the early version of this blog. As part of my project to save some of the better posts, I am republishing here today.

I was perusing a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly when I stumbled upon a quick writeup on actress Amy Adams who is listed as a “must sizzling star.” She has a movie coming out later this summer called Julia and Julia which costars Meryl Streep. In the piece, she reveals, “When I am in a hard scene, I always go, ‘What would Meryl do?’ Whether she’s there or not, she is my invisible mentor.”

This brings to mind an exercise that I first read about in Michael Michalko’s Thinkertoys. This “Board of Directors” exercise involves several steps:

1. Select three to five people you admire. Although Michalko specifically mentions business movers and shakers, they could include writers, artists, athletes or even family members.

4. Take notes. Look for ways your heroes overcame an obstacle and anything you find interesting about their lives and how they solved problems. Keep these notes in a file that is easy to refer back to.

5. When you encounter a problem or challenge, consult your Board of Directors. Think of ways that your mentor overcame these problems and challenges and apply them to your life.

I’m sure many of us do this exercise already, although less formally. For example, when I first joined Toastmasters nearly five years ago, there was an excellent speaker at the club who told us about the secret to his speaking success – practice. He revealed that he practiced each speech more than 30 times before he delivered it to our club. For me, this was interesting to learn.

As someone who took improvisation classes and often had an “I’ll wing it” attitude, I realized I would need to put in more work and preparation to become a better speaker. While I’m still working on this, I still remember the wisdom he shared with us even though he is no longer a member of our club.

Who are your Board of Directors? What have they taught you? How are you applying their wisdom to your life?

It’s time for me to let out my inner geek…Back in the day I learned to diagram sentences from my junior high teacher. In addition to that, I remember having to memorize 35 prepositions. I wasn’t too happy to do all the hard work that went into learning English grammar. Today, I’m very thankful. Diagramming sentences really helped me understand all the parts of a sentence in a logical manner and has helped me to become a better writer.

I recently stumbled upon a video that touches on diagramming sentences. It’s been so long since I’ve done this and brought back some interesting memories. From what I understand, it’s been a long time since sentence diagramming has been taught in schools.

For more information about sentence diagramming, check out the Wiki entry about the topic. For some books about diagramming sentences, check out Amazon.com (not an Affiliate link).

How about you…have you ever diagrammed sentences? If so, how did you like it?

Last week, I had the good fortune of attending my first ticker-tape Stanley Cup victory parade along with approximately 2 million of my closest friends. It was a celebration of an amazing 2010 hockey season by the Chicago Blackhawks. In the middle of the sea of humanity, I came to a realization: no matter what age or stage of our lives, it is necessary for us to celebrate our victories, big and small.

It’s great to celebrate big victories like the Stanley Cup, the World Series or first place at whatever. It’s especially nice when there are others around to celebrate these big victories with us (like at a ticker tape parade). Chances are, however, we’ll encounter a lot more smaller victories and milestones than larger ones. And it’s important we celebrate every one of the small ones.

For example, if you’re a writer, a big victory would be to finish your book or get it published. A small victory might be to finish a chapter or a set number of pages. If you’re looking for work, a big victory might be to find a job; a small victory might be to secure an interview or networking meeting.

These small victories make it possible for us to experience big ones. Celebrating a small victory doesn’t mean parties and trophies. Usually a small victory can be as simple as an acknowledgment that you’re getting somewhere and on the right track to something. Small victories may not feel like a victory at all – they might give us a smile or even be mixed with a serving of disappointment.

Back in the 1990’s, I took a year-long improvisation program which included weekly classes that led to our group putting on a show at Second City. For me, these weekly classes were challenging. I had many moments where things went well, I got a few laughs and felt proud of my performance. But I also had challenging moments where I felt like I wasn’t funny or felt like I made a fool out of myself in front of my classmates.

But that’s fine – I always looked at my weekly classes as a small victory no matter how well or how bad I did. I felt this sense of victory because I knew I learned something about myself and felt like it was bringing me closer to something bigger. And it did.

After I had graduated from the program in front of my friends and family at Second City, I felt much like the Chicago Blackhawks did when winning the Stanley Cup last week. It was an exhilarating experience and one of the greatest accomplishments I had up to that point in my life. I learned so many lessons from my experience – lessons of teamwork, listening, quick thinking, creativity and laughter.

My biggest victory was coming to the realization that I could accomplish just about anything I put my mind to and overcoming a mountain of fear and self-doubt. I learned that anything is possible. And that, my friends, is just about the greatest victory we can celebrate.

Those of you that have followed this blog since the early days know that I really enjoy commencement addresses.Â I love that these addresses have the ability to inspire, motivate and provide wisdom to graduates as they embark on new paths in life.Â In the past, I’ve featured some great addresses from speakers including Randy Pausch, Oprah and J.K. Rowling.

I recently stumbled upon this video that includes some great words of wisdom.Â Call it a commencement address for a new generation or for those with a short attention span.Â Whatever the case, I think you’ll enjoy…